Private Force of Nature

[Laertia Io]

I'll not betray the girl. Have no fear. Any injury done to her I would take as an insult, and the perpetrator would be punished. Severely. Xiphos assured Singing Fire. Whatever you can do will be of immense help to the Galaxy. Like I said, my squabbles, my feuds with the Bryn'adul, the Jedi, and whoever else are my problem...

When Naivia Neryn opened her eyes and looked at Darth Xiphos and said she wanted to join her, Xiphos nodded.

"Very well then. I dub you a Civilian Ally of House Io. Though the way of the Warrior is not suitable to you, you shall be supported to the best of our ability in your travels to heal as much as you can..."

Xiphos then gently lay Naivia back on the pillow to let her get her rest. Xiphos began looking for the scavenged junk equipment Rebecca had uncovered.

While she rested, Xiphos began to tinker with some of the electronics. It was old but serviceable. Since Naivia had no need of weapons, Xiphos decided to do what she was really good at...personal protection...enhancement...

It took her over two hours of work. Rebecca treated her wounds...

"This is my first time meeting an Organic outside of House Io!" Rebecca said excitedly. "I've only been activated for 14 days so far. They grew me in a vat and programmed me... there's already a few thousand just like me! I have lots of sisters and brothers. Some are flesh like me, others are mechanical. And Xiphos is our creator. We're basically a race of Machines and Organics trying to live together...and stop the Bryn'adul and The Maw Brotherhood... they're evil. The Maw wants to wipe out all life in the Galaxy!"

Rebecca told her a bit more about Xiphos.

"When the Bryn'adul attacked, Xiphos felt the threat they posed was so severe she advocated Jedi and Sith temporarily set aside their differences and crush the evil beasts before they grew too powerful...but no one listened. The Jedi seemed obsessed with destroying the Sith, even though they've never succeeded. Xiphos tried to Force them to do the right thing and the Jedi doubled down. The more they doubled down, the more Xiphos doubled down. Now they're at each other's throats these days. Xiphos hates Jedi with a passion. Not because they're Jedi, but because she feels they let the Galaxy burn...and they didn't even get what they wanted at the end of it all...and the Jedi are hunting her because her feud with them has grown legitimately violent and personal."

Xiphos finally finished her work for Naivia.

"Naivia, it occurs to me some enhanced form of personal protection is necessary. If you become this weakened in an emergency it could be the difference between life and death..." Xiphos explained, holding out what she made.

(Fallen Order Upgrade Sound Plays)

(Naivia has gained new equipment!)

Equipment: MANDALORIAN POWER SHIELD

Spoiler

Energy shield that surrounds entire body in protective field that blows purple. Equally good at absorbing energy attacks as it is projectiles or grenades for a short period of 007 minutes before the power cell burns out and must be replaced.

Total spare cells Naivia has: 007

Equipment: RADIATION DEFLECTION BADGE

Spoiler

Personal shields that can protect from low to medium levels of lethal radiation for 28 minutes before the power cell needs to be swapped out.

Spare cells: 2

Equipment: BRACER COMPUTER

Spoiler

Scavenged arm mounted computer with high levels of processing power and storage space. Can be upgraded

Equipment: SOUND DAMPENING BELT

Spoiler

Belt that quiets all movement from the user, making it easier to sneak.

"These should prove useful to you in an emergency..." Xiphos said. "Sorry, it's not much, but it's all I can do for now..."

 

[Naivia Neryn]

Neryn listened attentively to Rebecca and remembered that as a child, among the vast number of teachers that the servant families hired for her, there was a Jedi master who came
to test whether the little girl was sensitive to the force. The result of the test was that she had amazing potential and if she had chosen to study further, she could have become
one of the finest in that field. But the girl refused, citing the fact that the Sith and all other parties to constant conflict are blind to the real conflict within themselves, and no matter how many
worlds they enslave , and no matter how many Jedi die to restore those worlds, they will never come to a peaceful mutual respect as they are still blind.

"Thank you so much Xiphos...Please forgive me for making you worry about yourself. I wanted to confess that I had a chance to become a Jedi, but I turned it down. And even though now I'm not particularly adept at lightsaber with
Singing Fire I have still learned to use the force in its original meaning, which created the world and put a virtue in the hearts of all mortal beings of the galaxy."

The girl then stroked Rebecca and after thanking her for her work asked Xiphos

"And how will the ship take us from here? It's just that my brain hasn't fully come to its senses yet...That's why I'm trying to figure out what's going on."

Neryn lifted her head and began to admire the night sky, filled with thousands of stars that she would surely look into when she had the time...So many worlds...knowledge...experiences...She had dreamed of this since she was a child.
Then she turned her gaze back to Xiphos and tried to imagine her inner universe with all its secrets, feelings, emotions and attitudes.

From the outside it looked unusual : She looked at her clothes, hands and face with a joyful face as if she had not seen such beauty since she was born

"Still I have yet to learn to understand the inner world of people..."

She said quietly her thoughts out loud

Laertia Io

 

[Laertia Io]

Naivia Neryn seemed all over the place. Exerting her power like that had clearly done a number on her.

"We're still getting interference on the Comlink...I think it's magnetic..." Rebecca said. "My skin's all tingly at something in the air..."

"What were those creatures out here for. It can't have been for just us...they were guarding something..." Xiphos said, closing her eyes, trying to sense something that might be out of place. She did. It was very faint...coming from a cavern not far from the village.

Naivia was in no condition to travel. Until that com link was fixed, or alternate means of travel were obtained, they were stuck here. Xiphos didn't feel the cold, but even she needed to eat. There were only so many preserved rations to be found in this place. But it would not be a good idea to leave Naivia alone with anything less than a Force Adept to defend her...

"Rebecca...I need a favor. I can't leave Naivia alone...there is a cavern not far from here. I need you to investigate it. Don't be a hero. If you think whatever you find is too much, then leave and we'll figure out something else..."

Rebecca complied, getting up after making sure Naivia was comfy.

"At once, Creator." Rebecca said, and left to check the cavern.

"Rebecca can handle herself, I assure you..." Xiphos said, sitting next to her while she recovered...

 

[Naivia Neryn]

Neryn only gently stroked her hands in response to Xiphos' warm words as if she feared that she would worry more about all of this, thought the girl herself, who was trying at the moment to try to find the ship that was a thousand miles away and do something with it to help her new special friends. Although she could feel the formidable image of the entity above her, who didn't like the fact that she wasn't trying to rest completely, she still tried to expend as little energy as possible.

As Rebecca left them the girl turned her head slightly towards Xiphos and asked
"And what is your favourite colour? "

She was trying to make some kind of personal conversation in this way so they wouldn't be so lonely with all the abnormality of the situation going on. Looking at the local landscape, the girl noticed that perhaps it really wasn't so cold here before and there was a whole village or even a small town, where a unique culture and much more flourished, which made this place different from the thousands of other ruins across the planet, most of which had long been hidden by snow and blizzards.

The girl then turned closer towards Xiphos and added

"I know it sounds a bit strange. But I wouldn't mind taking care of you too. I mean, you're always swearing at someone, then saving them. You've shared bits and pieces of your life with me and so I wonder what nice things can be done in return for your help."

Laertia Io

 

[Laertia Io]

"I, uh, don't really have a favorite color..." Xiphos confessed to Naivia Neryn . "And it's kind of you to offer taking care of me, really. But there isn't really much you could do for me. I'm not wanting for too much right now. Helping restore those ruined worlds will be thanks enough."

Xiphos then began eating a small part of the rations she found...

"I don't want for much these days. I made a lot scavenging and scraping from the Third Imperial Civil War. I have an army. A business. Powerful and Dangerous allies. Only my family keeps me happy though... really happy. And all the Nuetralizers are family..."

Meanwhile...

Rebecca felt no sense of cold as she walked through the blizzard...

Her design, built to endure both cold and heat, as well as other environmental hazards made her a valuable asset in dangerous workplaces. She could even be pressed into skirmish combat if necessary.

She had only one pistol, an Ion Relic model, customized with an underslung dart shooter, and had found a Vibroknife, and a slew of combat programming. Over Programmed, in fact, given her stated duties.

Anywhere else, she would have been declared a combat grade Bio HRD with illegal genetic modifications. In House Io, she was the equivalent of a Protocol Droid.

She did not fear, for she was of The Nuetralizer Race. A race of Machines. Created by Xiphos to combat intractable foes and threats to the Galaxy. Threats that would not see reason, could not be dissuaded from their insanity, met with just as brutal and merciless an enemy as they.

Rebecca neared the cavern in question, fire arm in hand. She detected a number of unusual symbols on the mouth of it.

She headed inside, pistol now pointing toward the cavern...her flesh rippled like water as it detected high intensity magnetic anomalies...

 

[Naivia Neryn]

"It's hard to be that kind of leader."

Answered Neryn with a sigh and gathered her thoughts, with which she was still conflicted.

"I'll keep an open mind. I've had my chance to be both a Jedi and a Sith. There were hints of both and remain and even stay in the middle. I even tried to understand all those divisions, their ideologies and maybe I would even do it again now, but no. I'm not so young and naive anymore, although the name of my house has nothing to do with childish naivety. It's cool, but in moderation. I am now a conscious person who seeks to explore my past by living in here and now and through the past to see the outlines of the future, near and far. Whether a new god comes with the desire to subjugate the galaxy or not, I will always look after the force. So the whole galaxy is my home. "

After that, the girl too began to sense powerful magnetic fields through Rebecca and thoughtfully began to analyse them

"By the way, if you will have time, let's fly over to my home planet, I still have my own lightsaber there. I think you'd be interested to know its colour."

The girl smiled

Laertia Io

 

[Laertia Io]

Rebecca had ventured deep into the cavern of ice when she spotted the bodies.

This did not deter her. To be a Nuetralizer was to walk the path of violence and bloodshed.

Rebecca only went and checked them for useful Equipment. She found a long range transceiver on one but it's power source was busted. The rest looked 'mostly' intact.

Rebecca knew this was a high priority. This had to be taken back. But she needed more...none of the parts she had found at the village were sufficient...

Rebecca hid the transceiver behind the old stormtrooper body. He had nothing else valuable on him.

There was still the strange disturbance her creator sensed...

Rebecca went forward, finding more bodies, growing more and more concerned.

She was diving backward, the first sword swipe from an invisible opponent having nearly decapitated her. She fired her Ion Relic Pistol at its approximate location, rapidly and in a semi random pattern. She hit something because she heard a snarl, and she sprang back up, ears catching the position of the sword and ducking, throwing out a fist at superhuman speed.

She hit something, smacking it into the back wall...

Meanwhile...

"You're serious? A big giant hole just opened up and swallowed them both? A Model 3 asked.

"Yes. It happened so fast there was nothing I could do. I don't think they are dead though." The larger Model 2 explained, his large, Skeleton like design looming over the equally Skeletal Model 3. "Whatever they opened, snow came through faintly from the other side. I think it deposited them somewhere else on Hoth."

"We shall begin a systematic search immediately. If Xiphos and Rebecca are still alive, they will surely be looking for ways to signal us. Set our scans to detect both at and below most emergency frequencies..."

The Skeleton like robots immediately went to work, scanning every frequency they could. General alert went out to not just the mechanical citizens but the organics also.

The Matriarch was missing. In danger. They all immediately dropped what they were doing. All available personnel who could be dispatched to search the planet did so...

The Nuetralizers in particular were worried. That was their mother that was missing. They'd be damned before letting her freeze in the snow...

Their processors went through great emotional agitation at the stress of trying to find her, because as efficient as they were, it would still be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

The robots sang as they worked, partly to distract them from their own worry. Another to keep up the spirit of everyone else...

But they were tireless and precise. Every known search and rescue technique was being planned and deployed.

Meanwhile.

"I'll be happy to take a look at your blade. I'm something of an enthusiast on the subject..." Xiphos said.

(Cutaway of Xiphos chopping off a Jedi's head in black and white.)

"Why, I can't begin to tell you how many times such knowledge proved beneficial to me."

(Cutaway of a fourteen year old Laertia viciously stabbing a Bounty Hunter to death in black and white.)

"Really, I could go in all day about bladeship..."

(Cutaway of Laertia killing an opponent with a knife toss)

(Gun barrel POV fills with blood)

("You Know My Name". by Chris Cornell Plays)

"But back to your earlier point...yes, it is different. Difficult. If I believed other ways would have worked better I would have taken them...but I'm glad you're keeping an open mind..."

Naivia Neryn

 

[Naivia Neryn]

"It's great of course that you shared your memories with me and I now know all your bladeship knowledge perfectly well.
But you'll be more interested in the fact that a couple of seconds ago something at about Jedi Knight level speed hit Rebecca, possibly higher and your ship
began massive preparations to evacuate you from the planet's surface. That's just the fun news. In fact, I'd recommend you start packing, since my body is almost fully recovered and I'm able to defend myself without
using any unusual magic like the one I used to play with time and space. And just to reassure you, my lightsaber is half dark and half white. Quite unique, I know.
don't understand the nature of that colour myself, although I've been tried to be taught by both Jedi and Sith, I'll tell you about that later."

Neryn tried to stand up , which she did . She looked around cautiously and having accurate knowledge of Rebecca's location pointed a linear path with her finger , the closest and safest.

"Or do you have a smarter plan as I personally wouldn't mind stopping to fight and just having some tea for a while."

She smiled stupidly, realizing that there was no time or place for such jokes right now.

Laertia Io

 

[Laertia Io]

Xiphos sensed it at about the same time Naivia Neryn mentioned it. Rebecca had indeed encountered something. Something dangerous...

As Naivia pointed the way Xiphos was already slipping into her dark blue bio armor, letting it seal up on her.

She grabbed her Lightsaber Spear.

"Stay behind me. If trouble comes, I'll handle it." Xiphos told her. "As for smarter plans, I'm afraid the situation precludes having some elaborate tactic...we go in and we get Rebecca, and then we get the feth out of here..."

Xiphos waited until Naivia was fully ready before she headed out for the cavern.

Meanwhile...

Rebecca dodged and flipped away from the swords slashes with superhuman alacrity, punctuated by shots from her Ion Relic Pistol, putting holes in the black robes, iron masked opponent who attacked her with a ghostly swiftness. But none of them seemed to truly do any damage to it on any meaningful level.

Rebecca was undeterred. She was a Nuetralizer. She would go down fighting.

As her enemy brought her sword down for a vertical chop, Rebecca caught his wrists, but even her superhuman strength was barely keeping the masked warriors arms away...

So she kicked him square in the chest, Gerard Butler style.

He was slammed backward into an ice wall and she was on him, just as he rose, driving her fists at high speed into his face and punching if repeatedly, but it only seemed to enraged her opposition and he struggled, trying to grab her. So she kept punching him, kicking the sword out of his grip as she punched him as hard and as fast as she could, until at last, finally, he started to stagger as she wailed on him.

The next punch broke every bone in her hand but she didn't feel it, yet he was finally outright flattened by the punch, not moving again as Rebecca stood over him.

Rebecca immediately stomped her foot on the neck region, hearing a sickening crack.

Not paying attention another moment to the enemy she had defeated, she immediately went to where she had hidden the Transceiver, lifting away the corpse...

...it was gone.

Rebecca cursed her awful luck. A distraction. That's what her enemy had been. She grabbed his sword, a strange green bladed Katana, and decided to go even deeper than she had planned. One way or another, she was getting that Transceiver even if she had to gut every dumb bastard waiting for her...

 

[Naivia Neryn]

"Don't worry so much, in principle I'm a pretty strong opponent. Not to mention duels. If anything happens I can save you both, it's not new to me. The only request is, no crazy war shouting and dancing like wow we're winners. You need to get off the planet with Rebecca and get back to your normal state, not run around in ice caves and fight against God knows who. So for the moment, I have confidence in myself and in you, Xiphos. It's not going to work out any other way. "

Neryn replied and for reassurance she easily lifted half the village with her power and put it back in place just as easily. Smiling she began to walk through the icy snow, thinking about what might await her in this cave. As she walked, an assessment of the girl's actual abilities went through her mind at the same time.

"So you're saying that among mortals only a few are capable of defeating you in single combat? It's just that if that's the case then I don't agree with your view of the world, if not then you have potential in you and it's enormous. Just don't forget to improve the rest of the body's development points in addition to your soul and then everything will be perfect."

Laertia Io

 

[Arianna Belasko]

Wearing: Aristocrat Epidermis (Environmental Bastion Suit, custom appearance)

Armed with: Subverter's Blade (Red Split-Saber)

"And you still have the Relic?" Countess Arianna Belasko, adoptive Mother of Laertia Io asked over the comlink, en route to Hoth ever since receiving the General Alert. Arianna, a bloodthirsty creature by default, nonetheless adored Laertia and was bent on returning her to safety.

"Yes, Countess..." The Model 2 on the other end said.

"Has the Relic done anything funny?" Arianna asked...

"No Countess."

"Good, don't touch at all..." Arianna instructed as she got closer to Hoth, worried for her Daughter. House Io would be absolutely devastated by the loss of its Matriarch at this juncture, one which could be Ill afforded...

Arianna, in fact, was in planetary range when she reached out.

Daughter? Can you hear me? Arianna called out.

On Hoth, Laertia had been highly impressed at the display of Naivia Neryn at lifting the village...

"Okaaaay...I'll just let you throw crap at the enemy until we win..." Laertia said.

She tensed, feeling Arianna reach out.

Mother! Xiphos called back mentally I'm here!

I'm heading to you soon... came the reply.

Laertia turned to Naivia "Great news. I can feel an ally of mine heading to us from orbit...she'll be here soon...

Xiphos winced again, feeling the distress of her HRD Rebecca.

"Now the only thing that remains is to get my friend...come on, she's in trouble!"

Xiphos ran to the cave and then kept going deeper into it...

 

[Naivia Neryn]

"I'm glad you feel that way. Only it's more of a sign for you, as it's still unfamiliar faces for me, but I hope I won't be a problem for your allies due to psychological, social and other reasons. Although it sounds delusional, I don't want to be a problem for you or for them, even after I have agreed to help you. I am used to a one-legged life, a life of cold, blade and blood. But if you can get into my character and get on with it, then I'll trust you even more. "


The girl answered and instead of running she slid on the thin ice as on the sea with the help of a force, and changing her fiery fervour to a cold one gave a shadow of her violent past, which she either did not like to mention, or visited her again in the form of this or that action, word or movement. She did not particularly feel the cold, as the girl's personal will transformed her into an icy, but along with it a real star of energy, she strove to help in any way she possibly could.
Arianna Belasko Laertia Io

 

[Arianna Belasko]

Arianna walked the frozen wastes of Hoth after disembarking from her shuttle. Her environment suit protected her but she was eager to reach her.

Nonetheless, blizzard conditions made it difficult to navigate and the whole area was covered in Magic energy, which made her flesh ripple and shudder disgustingly everywhere as she moved along. She drank it in, absorbing as much as she could into her body.

She sensed danger as she approached the remains of the strange village. A gust of snow around her and suddenly she was surrounded by several white robed warriors.

The Countess of Khemost sighed, activating her red bladed saber staff.

"I so do not have time for this. Alright, nerf herders, first one that tells me what's going on here lives. Everyone else is fething dead."

The warriors leapt for her, flashing red blades of their own. Arianna slipped into Juyo easily, meeting aggression with aggression, attacking as a form of defending, linking attacks unpredictably as she was struck at from all sides.

The lightsabers grazed her face, but due to her enchanted flesh the energy skittered off her skin, and she retaliated, spinning her blades through her first victim.

Then she pulled the moisture from the air, forming tentacles of water that swiped violently at the Dark Warriors, who had a very weak command of the Darkness as they tried to choke her, only to get their backs broken and their throats crushed even as they tried to crush hers. But they were not apex predators. Not like she was.

Arianna cackled as she struck fast and viciously, spinning her blade around her body as she flipped out of the way of strikes, water tentacles holding one victim in place...

Meanwhile...

Xiphos went deeper into the cavern with Naivia Neryn but was not expecting the number of corpses they met. Some were Ancient, looked like stormtroopers or rebels. Others were fresher, likely made by Rebecca as she had gone further.

Xiphos grimaced as she started seeing the sith sigils.

"Crap..." Xiphos said. "Stay sharp. We've found a damned tomb...I hate Sith Tombs..."

 

[Naivia Neryn]

Neryn tried to behave carefully so as not to attract the attention of those who might still inhabit this unpleasant place. Among other things, the local architecture was both familiar and alien to her, as even though she had been to various tombs before, but now she was not alone and plus she had the personal principle of protecting everyone who helped her in any way, so she looked around carefully and then made a more or less clear assessment of what was happening.

"From what I can tell and be right in, one thing is clear to me, I have been in such places before, but it is not quite clear exactly how old he is, and that is another story. So I recommend stick to each other and don't go too far away."

Arianna Belasko

 

[Laertia Io]

"Like I wanna explore a fething Sith Tomb on my own..." Xiphos joked, going further into the ice caverns.

(Sinister Music Plays)

The ice tunnels soon cleared into a larger chamber full of various Ancient gears and stone altars. The whole place was covered in ancient Sith Runes.

Xiphos activated her blade as she spotted Rebecca, heavily injured, but fighting viciously against a hoarder of Sith Undead and ripping through them with her acquired weapons.

Rebecca was missing an arm, but fighting with clockwork precision with her green bladed Katana as she completely dismembered one of the ancient zombies. She stopped as she spotted Xiphos.

"Creator!" Rebecca called out as she finished her MK-Style Fatality.

"Child, you're injured!" Xiphos called out, teleporting over to her, making sure to keep an eye out on the behalf of Naivia Neryn so some Sith Prick didn't manage to pull some bullchit stealth kill on her.

"I'll be fine. I'm already healing..." Rebecca assured. "Creator...I think...I think we stumbled into something very bad here."

"What is this place?" Xiphos asked.

"It looks like a Sith Tomb. Old relics. But...it's strange...I found parchments... indicating it was built on top of something older. Something worse."

"A temple?" Xiphos asked.

Rebecca shook her head. "No..."

Rebecca reached for her belt and showed them both some of the old parchment she had found.

"Some of these were written by the people guarding this place... they're scared of whatever is underneath this place, they're saying there is an area where reality breaks down beneath us...and something horrifying is in that area... stalking it actively..."

Xiphos turned to Naivia.

"Do you sense anything like that? If there is some sort of abomination beneath this place, it would be irresponsible not to try and destroy it."

 

[Naivia Neryn]

Neryn was pleased with the state of things, even though there may have been spatial discontinuities beneath them, which she was not very good at, but before Xiphos had had time to analyse the vibrations under her feet and the feelings that resulted from these waves, she turned in her direction and carefully crossed the facts and her personal thoughts on the matter and replied calmly
"It is an illusion of spatial discontinuity created by a certain intelligent entity for reasons unknown to me. Some do it to create a biodiverse life as a means of energetic feeding their body functions, and some simply to be worshipped or conversely feared as all these emotions also serve as tasty food for them. Either all my assumptions may not be true, but it's about 20-40 metres below our feet, which
surprisingly not too deep and in principle we can try to go down, but first we have to clear this cave and do not forget that your loved ones might be looking for us now, which would not be a good idea, as they too would be in some danger if they were near us or following our footsteps."
After answering, the girl sat down and began to run her hand over the cold frozen stones of the Sith temple, marvelling at their certain inner warmth and softness, it was as if they were alive and carried certain information through channels that she had not yet been able to detect. Lest she create any strange behavioural reactions from the others, the girl stood up and with a sigh continued exploring the cave, going deeper while searching for a deeper entrance and trying to catch any indication that the close Xiphos were nearby.
"Look, did I understand correctly that you have smaller bodies besides the main ship ? For the effect of a certain flotilla or do you act as one cohesive formation so that potential adversaries can see the entire hub of your power? And if need be, I can help Rebecca get back in good shape if you don't mind of course."

Neryn sighed and sang her childhood song softly, to somehow reduce the level of anxiety that had been building up inside her.

Laertia Io

 

[Laertia Io]

"We're building a fleet..." Xiphos answered, following Naivia Neryn deeper in.

"We try not to flaunt our strength unless it's necessary. House Io ships and it's fleet are currently best suited to limited open warfare or Guerilla tactics..." Rebecca answered. "And if it's at all possible for you to speed up my repair process, I would be extremely grateful."

"This Spatial distortion, whatever is generating it, has to be approached with immense caution. We have to make sure whatever we do to destroy it doesn't take us down with it..." Xiphos added, activating her Lightsaber as she sensed danger.

The tomb was wickedly, hauntingly quiet as they went deeper, starting to get even colder than should have been possible.

A high pitched wail, splitting, like a whistle almost echoed out around them Xiphos's Force Sense was going haywire because she sensed danger everywhere.

"Naivia...guard yourself...it's about to get very bad here..." Xiphos warned as they went into a series of almost maze like passages in the ice caverns.

Xiphos saw the pairs of red eyes before the attack came. The ice seemed to break off from the cavern wall unnaturally and form into a Humanoid figure to deliver a devastating punch.

Xiphos caught the blow full on, flung backward as she felt her ribs crack and she struggled to breathe. The bio armor was already stabilizing the severe injuries but she would have severe trouble with mobility as the Ice monster tried to punch Naivia...

OOC: sorry for the long wait.

 

[Naivia Neryn]

Neryn did not have any protection or certain armor that would have been able to restore her organs and skin, so she was given very little time to react to the red-eyed creature's blow. In order to be able to fight more, she decided not to use the force of her friend, but rather to focus on her own body and the movement of the monster and at the right moment she made a sharp U-turn and in the air kicked the creature from above, where was concentrated force field from her body, an effort of physical damage many times over. The girl then did a couple of jumps backwards and got into a fighting stance, trying to calm down and lightly touching the vaults she sensed the essence of the local cave and picked exactly where the creature was and aimed a couple tons of icy ceiling pieces at it from above, leaping in the air and taking Xiphos onto her hands and jumping back as far away from the creature as possible.

"Are you all right, are you hurt badly? Are you going to be all right?"

Neryn asked anxiously, creating a force field around herself, Rebecca and Xiphos and trying to dive mentally back in time to guess the cause of the attack.

Laertia Io

 

[Arianna Belasko]

Arianna cackled psychotically as her red saberstaff dashed here and there, a flitting, spinning red disk that ripped open the snow assassin's, thrown off by the unpredictable pattern of her stabs and slashes and spins, the water tentacles she conjured crushing torsos and ripping her enemies open.

So believe me when I tell you that the Assassin that snuck up on her had his sneak skill maxed to 100

It was the perfect stealth kill. A classic of its kind.

(Sekiro deathblow sound plays)

A pair of hands reached out while her back was turned, concealing himself in the Force, and snapped her neck.

Arianna crumpled to the ground, dead as a doornail.

The other Assassins stopped, all heavily wounded.

The Assassin looked down at his hands, seemingly not believing his luck.

"A well executed kill..." one of them remarked.

"This one was strong with the Dark Side."

"Not strong enough..." another spat. "Bring it into the temple. We should at least take the opportunity to study it's flesh..."

The Assassin's hoisted up Arianna's corpse and dragged it into the temple. This was long after Laertia and the others had departed to face the lower levels horrors.

One hour later...

Arianna had been stripped to the bone. They had taken the skin off first, revealing the glowing white muscle and blood. The blood had been drained into special vats, the muscles all carefully, painstakingly removed. The organs had gone out last. The Brain had been cut out of the skull, and pried open...

And a a glowing green Crystal was discovered.

None of these Cultists knew what it was, or how it had gotten there with no visible scars. It had been placed on a special stand, after the crystal whispered to their vulnerable minds to do so.

It was exhausting work, they told themselves. They would finish later. It was time to hunt the intruders.

The crystal soon began to sweat white blood and grow tendrils of white muscle, moving off its resting place, starting to grow larger, bits of muscle transmogrifying into fragments of bone.

Slowly, the organism grew and grew, taking on a humanoid form and internal structure, flesh and Skeleton regrowing, soon transforming into a revived, but severely aged, Arianna, who stood nude in the ritual chamber.

The Assassins burst in, having realized their fatal miscalculation.

Arianna, though greatly weakened, was far from done for.

She smirked at all of them as she conjured arrows of water. Dozens of arrows, all flying towards them from all angles, and she kept conjuring them in brutal spam attacks that caught even the guy who had initially stealth killed her by surprise, piercing his head and killing his sorry Assassin ass instantly.

But doing so proved too draining, especially given what she had already experienced.

Arianna's flesh and mind vanished, no longer having the strength to remain, and was replaced by an elderly red head with pale skin and green eyes.

Vivian, the person who had killed the real Arianna Belasko years and years ago resurfaced, flesh resetting on a newly grown Skeleton.

She was at a severe disadvantage at the moment. She still didn't know where Xiphos was. Or how many Assassins there actually were.

Vivian looked at the remains of her old body, painstakingly separated from it's constituent parts and got an idea.

Vivian used the white blood of her false self to draw a pentagram, stood in the center and began chanting.

The skin, the muscles, the blood, all started to writhe and bubble and shudder, taking other shapes...

Meanwhile...

"I'll...live..." Xiphos said, finding the strength to climb out of the arms of Naivia Neryn .

Another roar from another Ice Monster caused Xiphos to conjure Blue Flames in her hands as it charged, and she blasted it with the flames. It screamed, its arms being frozen solid before Rebecca shot them with her pistol, shattering them to pieces.

"Let's tag team it!" Xiphos said to Neryn marching forward, though still quite winded from the blow...

 

[Naivia Neryn]

Neryn nodded and having worked out in her head an approximate path and strategy for the collective destruction of the enemy rather quickly rose and carefully with the help of force began to draw visual lines across all the vaults and materials around, so that at the right moment they would all limit the subject's movement and give Xiphos and Rebecca time to attack. Neryn had been trying to use her energy not to cause massive tremors in the local tectonic plates, so she raised her arms and held them in the air as a conductor, which made the air begin to shake and gradually shrink around her opponent, Neryn called out to Xiphos at that moment.

"This is your chance! Take it, these walls weigh hundreds of tons, I can hold them all safely."

The girl smiled sweetly as joy and confidence shone in her soul that by her actions she was saving the lives of her close friends whom she had already come to appreciate and accept as her own, rather than the galaxy-lost alien souls that everyone she was building contact with or trying to extend or deepen it became. This was her weakness and therefore the opportunity to give happiness in the form of life was for Neryn the greatest personal mission in the here and now. Her eyes burned with a cold fire, focused on the task at hand and ready to roast the creature itself to death.

Arianna Belasko
Laertia Io